Tunis gay
Many Faces of Gay in Tunisia
In Tunisia gay being has many faces: from secretive post-marital same-sex-not-gay quickies among straight husbands, to ongoing pre-marital youth same-sex-not-gay with friends, to totally gay friendship networks among different age peers, to monogamous boyfriend couples to discrete liaisons from the internet. It is not easy to label the &#;scene&#; here because it is not organized, not open, not admitted, yet it&#;s cruisy, sexy, internet-connected and quite populous. There is no LGBT company or office.
During my see I chatted with two very different gay men, one a young scholar at a local university and the other a retired Italian resident of Tunis now self-employed. Their gay worlds are similar and different.
A Youthful Learner With a Long Future
Ari, a university student studying architecture, and I met at tea time and had creamy thick scorching chocolate at a trendy modern coffee shop and later went for pizza across the street.
Ari is a gregarious gay youth of 20 maturing out of his twink years. Thoughtful, expressive, verbal (4 languages), in
At a café on the avenue, for two dinars or so (equivalent to $) one can while away a whole afternoon reading a newspaper, sipping a Coke, and perusing the passing crowd as if one were a local. Given the history of North Africa, Tunisians carry out not have a single, identifiable “look,” and some of my fair-haired, blue-eyed students—people of Berber extraction—are sometimes mistaken by other Tunisians for Westerners. (The Berber presence predates the Arab conquest of North Africa.) In deference to my hosts and as an aim to “pass,” I never drank alcohol in public, just as I never wore shorts or T-shirts, and I learned a limited words of Tunisian Arabic. However, I was never mistaken for a local. Something about my appearance—or perhaps it was the proof that I drank “cola-light”—always gave me away, though generally people assumed I was French rather than American.
What I almost never saw from my seat at my favorite haunt—the Café de Paris, chosen because, not attached to a hotel, it always attracted more Tunisians than tourists—were any signs of a visible, easily identifiable gay or lesbi
Gay Guide Tunisia
According to article , homosexuality is illegal in Tunisia and can be punished with up to three years of imprisonment. Compared to other Muslim countries, convictions of homosexuals are less frequent, but the figures for recent years are still alarming: while 56 people were convicted in , were convicted in At the start of , one case caused international attention: A young learner who reported rape by two men who allegedly robbed him of his possessions was finally sentenced to eight months' imprisonment for homosexual acts. Even tourists are not safe from the law, so be careful, especially when it comes to sex for sale: nasty blackmail bids could be the consequence. In a TV interview in , the Tunisian Minister of Human Rights rejected the demand for the abolition of article - on the grounds that independence of expression had its limits and "perverse" homosexuals needed medical treatment. Homosexuals are subject to severe discrimination and physical force in the country. But there is progress: in the first official LGBT organisation in the country, Asso
Something of a sand-buried covert in North Africa is the nation of Tunisia, benefitting from both Mediterranean beaches and Saharan dunes that enclose much in the way of one-of-a-kind national culture. Bump Tunisia up a few ranks in your bucket list because this is a country keen to please, merging straightforward beach vacations with rather more intriguing journeys to the ruins of various empires – Phoenician, Roman and Islamic included. Unsure of the best things to undertake in Tunisia? Follow us over the dunes for our ultimate day Tunisia itinerary.
Tailor-Made Morocco
Discover exotic Morocco, from the timeless walled city of Fez to the bustling medina in Marrakech, viewing local Berber life in the ruggedly beautiful Tall Atlas Mountains and staying at an exclusive desert tented camp nestled among the towering dunes of the Sahara.
Photo: Herbert Bieser
LGBTQ situation in Tunisia
Is Tunisia safe for gay travellers? A complex question. This is Northern Africa and as such will never be the best place to be openly gender non-conforming. In reality, homosexuality i